Dallas 1, Columbus 4

I guess we all could have predicted the loss last night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

I wouldn’t have predicted all the fights and the five-minute major plus game misconduct for James Neal, though. I was at the game, so I didn’t get to see anything up close. Therefore, I won’t argue whether or not Neal deserves a suspension for the hit (he’s been suspended two games). At the time, though, I thought the Jackets player was okay at first and didn’t see him fall back down again. The hit didn’t look that vicious to me on the replay that I craned my neck to see on the press box TV. They didn’t show the hit in the arena.

I’m interested in seeing that sequence of events when I watch the game on my TiVo. I’ll also want to see why there were so many fights. I usually assume that if Trevor Daley is in a fight, he’s legitimately angry. When Krys Barch fights, I don’t usually have to break down what led up to it.

I apologize for not having any in-depth analysis. When I’m at the game, I talk a lot more and I hear Razor explaining things 100% less than when I’m on my couch watching it on TV. (Not that I have any in-depth analysis then.)

I was able to ascertain that the Stars weren’t playing as well as they played against the Wings the night before. When their penalty killing bubble burst, it really burst. They coughed up three power play goals to Columbus. The Jackets’ short-handed goal was just icing on the cake.

Granted, two of the power play goals were on a five-minute major, which can be very difficult to kill. But they were down to just a minute and a half or so left to kill when they gave up the first one, then the second one was scored just seconds later. If I were the type to leave hockey games before they were over, I probably would have left right then. I knew they weren’t going to do anything after that.

The one faint bright spot was another shiny goal for Mike Modano. That one-timer to break up the shutout was one of those signature Modano screamers. When he came back into the lineup after that rib injury, he went the first three games with no points but he’s scored at least a point in all four games since.

I don’t know what to say about the fact that they can’t win two in a row. They can’t even lose two in a row. I can’t get a handle on what kind of a team they are. If they were always losing to good teams, I could say they’re mediocre, and even though they’re winning against the good teams, I can’t say they’re good yet, either. And even though they’re losing to bad teams, I can’t say that they’re a bad team.

On the brighter side, I’d like to give a shoutout to the guy and girl working at the Pizza Patrón stand right near section 314. They made a minor error checking me out, but then came and found me in the stands to correct it. I thought that was highly admirable. Thanks again, kids! (Tell your boss I said to give you a raise.)

Dallas 3, Detroit 1

Not bad. Not bad at all. I guess the win-lose-win-lose-win-lose power is stronger than the PLEASE-NO!-NOT DETROIT! power. It was helped, of course, by the lose-to-bad-teams, beat-good-teams thing they’ve got going on, too.

The Stars looked very good the whole game. The Wings had trouble getting past them into the offensive zone. Alex Auld had a fine game tonight and made some pretty good saves. He got a gift from the refs on that one non-goal, but hey, life’s tough.

Modano had another great game, getting an assist on Loui Eriksson’s goal and just being all over the place all night. James Neal got an assist on Loui’s goal, too, with a beautiful pass. That brings Neal’s point streak to ten games. Matt Niskanen got his back that the scorers took away from him in the last game to give to Neal.

Mike Ribeiro had a much better game than he’s had lately. He got a nice, albeit flukey, goal but he worked hard all game. Brenden Morrow had more energetic game tonight, too. I think Brenden and Ribs got a little shot in the arm by being moved to new lines. Brad Richards added two assists to his impressive total for the year.

One of the best things I’ve seen lately is the improvement in the penalty kill. According to Razor, they had killed 17 penalties in a row at that point. They killed all five against Detroit tonight. And they got two power play goals! Everything’s all topsy-turvy.

Myra and I will be at the game tomorrow night. Let’s break the pattern, boys.

Dallas 2, Phoenix 3

They keep saying they’re looking for consistency, but as Ryan Lambert, the Puck Daddy What We Learned guy, points out, win lose win lose win lose win lose is consistent. They need to start winning games when it’s their turn to lose one.

I’m almost expecting them to win against Detroit on Wednesday night. I never assume that, but this win-lose-win-lose thing might be more powerful than the usual pattern against Detroit of lose-lose-lose.

Phoenix is doing a lot better this year, of course, now that they have a decent coach. Yet, they’re not doing so well that the Stars can take them lightly. As we saw.

The habit of spotting every team two goals is getting pretty tiresome. At least the Coyotes only got one before we tied it up the first time. That was a great goal by Modano, by the way. Not many can do what he does with his backhand.

I’m sure Dave Tippett was pretty pleased with the win even though he tried to play it off as just another game. I’m glad he’s having some success in Phoenix, but I don’t want to see them win against the Stars again this season. We couldn’t even beat them last year, when Gretzky was throwing fits on the bench and they were losing everywhere else.

The Stars are playing down to their competition. They had a great game against the Sharks, when there was less of a chance they could win. Then against teams that aren’t that great, they come out flat and seem lazy. That’s not good. The percentages are going to get them because most teams aren’t that great. Those are the games where we need to get points. We’re not going to make the playoffs just winning against the good teams.

Let’s talk about Brenden Morrow and Mike Ribeiro for a minute. Neither one of them is doing very well. Morrow looks frustrated and can’t seem to get anything to work. He’s trying, but passes bounce off his stick, people catch him and steal the puck, he just looks off somehow. I’m sure he’ll pull out of it, but he needs to do it now.

Ribeiro frustrates me no end. I actually really like Ribeiro. I love the crazy dipsy-doodling stuff and the highlight-reel goals and the unbelievable passes. But I do not like the poking along, the standing around, and the refusing to give up the puck to a teammate before he’s forced to give it to the opposition. I can take a little of that if I have more of the good stuff to cling to. But the percentages are way out of whack. Lately, I’m only seeing the stuff I don’t like.

James Neal was awarded the goal originally given to Matt Niskanen (poor Nisky), so that brings his point streak to nine games! Marty Turco had another pretty good game, despite the loss. So the whole thing wasn’t something to hate, just the lack of production from Ribs and Brenden and a general flat start that is way too common.

Unrelatedly, I need to ask Mike Heika about all the 2-day beards the boys are growing. I have been noticing that quite a few of them that usually stay clean-shaven are sporting the look. Brad, Otter, Daley, Ribs, Morrow, Robi, and many more that don’t usually have beards. I would assume it’s the Mo-vember thing where teams are growing mustaches for cancer awareness, but it started at the beginning of the season.

I have a theory that it might be in honor of Mike Modano in what might be his last year. Or maybe in support of his bid for the U.S. Olympics team.

It’s more like that stretch of I-635 between I-35E and the airport. Just kind of wavy.

After that nice win against Vancouver, we lost to the Minnesota Wild after giving up two goals to them in the first, the battling back, only to give up a third. Then Minnesota hung on to win.

Then we went to meet up with the league-leading San Jose Sharks and tried to do the same thing. It was only slightly different, in that we waited until the second period to give up 2 goals, and the third period to fight back to a tie. If we’re going to insist on doing it that way, I think the Sharks game version is better. It gives the opposition less time to go ahead again.

This time, though, we did the impossible and won in the shootout. Marty Turco was brilliant in the shootout, like he used to be in the old days. Crawford kept his promise and picked some new guys for the shootout this time. He kept James Neal, who hit the post for the third time this season. He needs to adjust the sight on his stick, I think.

The genius move, though, was calling on Stéphane Robidas. Robi skated in and just straight-on roofed it. No dekes for him. That won the game for us and got a huge cheer from me.

In Robi’s post-game interview, he was his adorably modest self when Heika asked him about his shootout history.

(I’m paraphrasing a little here.)
Robi: I was in the shootout last year in the preseason… (long pause).
Heika: Well?
Robi: I scored.
Heika: And that was the only time?
Robi: Well, once way back in juniors I had a penalty shot. (long pause)
Heika: Well?!
Robi: Yeah, I scored in that one, too.

It was great to see Mike Modano doing so well in the game, too. He seems to have his legs under him now. That goal of his was pretty impressive. I had to watch the replay twice to see what really happened, it was so fast. I’m sure the Sharks weren’t caught up, either.

James Neal kept his point streak alive with that rainbow reflection to get them on the board. Modano got the assist on that one, too. So far, Neal’s got 10 goals in 16 games. That’s a pretty heady pace.

Don’t forget Trevor Daley’s save, as he slid feet-first along the goal line behind Marty to stop the puck. The defensemen are really getting to be everymen now. Jumping up with the forwards, manning the crease with the goalie, getting slammed by forecheckers. What don’t they do? Defensemen are the best.

Speaking of defensemen that are the best, it appears that Mark Fistric will be playing forward again in tonight’s game against Phoenix. Brian Sutherby has some groin issue, as it seems many of them do, which will make them short a forward. Jeff Woywitka will fill in on defense.

Jere Lehtinen was scratched for the Sharks game and will be out again tonight because of groin issues. I don’t like to be a pessimist, but I put the over/under on consecutive games for Lehtinen at three, and I was right. I’d be willing to bet I can use that same prediction all season. I love Lehts and all, but I think it might be time for him to admit he can’t play any more. He’s fine when he’s in, he’s just never in.

Here are some random thoughts to close out:

–Greg Wyshynski over at the great Puck Daddy had a really nice interview with James Neal. The fact that Neal doesn’t have his earphones in 24 hours a day endears me to him even more. And that’s saying something because I love that guy.

–The GMs had their meetings last week and they decided to leave the trapezoids in. I was really crossing my fingers that they’d abandon that stupid, stupid, stupid rule, but I guess I gave them too much credit for seeing how stupid that rule is. I guess this means I shouldn’t hold my breath that they’ll ever get rid of the stupid over-the-glass penalty.

–We’re going to meet up with our old friend Dave Tippett tonight. He has really done well over in Phoenix. They are much more focused and optimistic about their play and they are winning some games. They’ve tailed off a little lately (and I hope they lose one more game) but I bet they pick it back up again. I miss Tipp, but he claims he’s moved on so I probably should, too. But just promise me, Stars fans, that you’ll give him a nice ovation when he comes to town for the first time. He did a lot for this team.

Down Goes Brown can help.

My favorite part:

No, he does this all the time but since we never suspend him we just keep saying he has no prior record and hope nobody notices.

That’s my biggest pet peeve.

Thanks to Puck Daddy for the link (although I was headed there anyway because DGB is genius).

The new video boards are beautiful. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Dallas 2, Vancouver 1

That was much better. The Stars really do seem to dominate the play for long stretches and they had 47 shots on goal so they should have won. This time they did.

I saw this game in person, in my quasi-season-ticket-holder seat next to Myra and family. It’s so fun to sit with somebody that’s also a little obsessed with the Stars. We usually agree that they’re awesome. Heh.

I have to say, those video boards seem more and more impressive every time I see them. Before the game and before the skate-around, they showed a slideshow on that huge screen of some very cool shots. Pictures I hadn’t ever seen before, from the dressing room, from promos, from games. Still, the boards don’t distract me from the game. In the old days (before this season), I would actually forget to look at the video for replays. I’d just figure, when I get home I need to watch for that play. But now I don’t forget about the video.

And as you can see in the picture, it looks really cool during the anthem. Last night’s anthem was unusually moving. Bill Ollerman called for a moment of silence for the victims of the tragedy at Ft. Hood, then a cellist played the lovely Canadian national anthem and then the Star-Spangled Banner. Quite a lot of people were singing it out loud, which is unusual. It was very nice.

The game was great. The last ten minutes were very exciting and highly nerve-wracking. The crowd cheered every clear during the penalty kills and stood for the whole final minute and a half while the Canucks’ net was empty and the Stars were fending off some desperation from them.

It was a great win. I think the wheels are starting to turn, the engine is picking up a little steam. I hope they’re about to knock out a few wins in a row.

Dallas 2, Flames 3 (OT) 11/04/09

That would be what I call crushing. A crushing loss.

It’s depressing when they lose like that. It’s infuriating when they suck, but it’s downright depressing when they play a great game, finally break through the goalie that’s playing out of his mind, get 40 shots, then give up a tying goal with seconds left in regulation and lose it in OT on a bogus call.

I hate the stupid over-the-glass penalty anyway. It’s stupid even when a player actually commits it. Unlike Nick Grossman, who didn’t commit that penalty.

Still, it shouldn’t have gotten to overtime. They only had to keep it out of the net for 49 more seconds and everything would have been fine. In my mind I was blaming Mike Ribeiro for coughing it up behind the net on a simple play, but I went back and looked and he was, technically, on the bench when the Flames scored the tying goal.

I think I was just mad at the time he refused to give the puck back to the defensemen and struggled with it until somebody took it away from him.

Up until the Flames tied it, it was a pretty good game. The Stars got more than 40 shots on their goalie, McElhinney, and there were many, many more of their shots blocked by Flames defenders.

Jarome Iginla scored the first goal of the game, but James Neal had an answer for it. As usual. He’s on a 7-game point streak.

Karlis Skrastins had a really good game and Trevor Daley made plenty of good plays. Brenden Morrow didn’t have such a good game. He seems a little behind lately. He had trouble catching passes and he just doesn’t seem to be moving his feet. He and Ribeiro are struggling quite a bit. I’m sure they’ll snap out of it eventually, but they haven’t yet.

Brad Richards, though, is the opposite of struggling. In 13 games, he has 18 points and he looks great. He had a couple of no-look passes that almost connected; and when I say no-look, I don’t mean the kind where he passes to somebody behind him without turning around. I mean the kind where he is looking somewhere else. He did also make the traditional no-look pass on one from behind the net right to the center of the slot that was this close to hitting Jamie Benn’s stick.

His genius is what made Loui Eriksson’s goal possible. At the right circle, he was approached by a Flames defender and he FAKED a crazy Ivan and lost the guy. He acted like he was going to spin away and then didn’t. Then he hit a wide-open Loui, who was standing in front of a wide-open net. It was a thing of beauty.

So, to sum up: Brad is a genius, Neal and Eriksson know how to take advantage of that genius, the over-the-glass penalty is stupid, Morrow and Ribeiro are struggling, the Flames shouldn’t have won that game.

Kids, this is why you need a UV filter.

Dallas 4, Toronto 3, OT

I went to the game tonight and as I got out of my car, I dropped my camera bag and it sounded like glass breaking. When I reached my seat I took it out and found that the UV filter was smashed, but the glass on the lens seemed okay. But it wouldn’t auto-focus and I couldn’t turn the manual focus ring. I had to wait until I got home to assess the damage.

If the Stars had lost that game, I’d have been pretty distraught. It’s amazing how much better a win can make me feel.

The Stars started out pretty blatantly bad in the first period. Two shots on goal the whole period. Marty Turco did a fabulous job of keeping them in the game. For a team that is basically the worst in the league right now, the Leafs looked pretty good against the Stars.

The second period looked better, and by the third, they were ahead a little in the play. The defense made some pretty good plays from what I could tell. Fistric had a good game, and so did Robidas.

Brad Richards got two goals but each one was followed closely by a Leafs goal. Richards made some great plays and those goals were very important. Ribeiro’s tip-in goal was extremely impressive. He basically curved it around all the Leaf defenders.

Have I mentioned that I miss Nik Hagman? I kind of wish, if they had to score, that he would get a goal. But I’m happy that they didn’t outscore us. I’ll take it.

I was resigned to the loss and then thrilled by the tying goal. Then I was resigned to an OT loss, so I was doubly thrilled by James Neal’s OT goal.

Great win, and after a little wrestling with my lens, I was able un-jam it so I think it’s okay. Everything worked out. Never give up on the puck, and always use a UV filter. That’s my advice.

Let’s see what we’re looking at here.

The defense isn’t half bad. Oooh! The young defense is going to be overmatched! Ooh! We need a free agent d-man everybody’s heard of! That was the cry during the off-season, and it continues now. But we can’t afford a free agent defenseman in his prime and we don’t need one that’s past his prime. I think the defense is already showing that they are learning the system and are the type that can work it.

Fistric is basically a stay-at-home defenseman that can skate like an offensive defenseman. Same with Grossman. Grossman is leading the NHL in plus-minus right now. Fistric played left wing for two games. Trevor Daley can overtake anybody that might take the puck from him. Niskanen can zig-zag through the opposition just like a forward, and is improving his defensive game. Robidas is still the leader he’s been for a couple of years and is basically in his prime. And Skrastins is actually helping out quite a bit. I like a professional shot-blocker like him. He makes some good plays and blocks a lot of shots.

I might be a little Pollyanna about the defense, but I think it’s doing pretty well. Certainly better than the skeptics predicted.

The Richards line was mentioned on Hockey Night in Canada, by Ron MacLean, no less (although I hear he’s a Richards fan in general). Still. To have a forward line in Dallas mentioned on HNiC is saying something, because they usually barely acknowledge the Stars. That line of Richards, Eriksson, and Neal is turning out to be a pretty powerful one.

Brad Richards is really looking good. I mean really looking good. He looks like the kind of player that makes seven million a year. He makes such intellectual plays. Eriksson and Neal have good chemistry with each other, let alone with Richards. I usually don’t follow lines very well –I grew up watching Tippett mix and match them all the time — but even I can see how much they’re accomplishing. The Ribeiro line is kind of the second line right now, and if Ribeiro and Morrow are on the second line, that means the first line is unbelievable.

When Modano comes back to center the third line, I don’t see how things could be bad.

Morrow is almost back to his old self, it seems. He’s tied with Neal for the goal-scoring lead on the team and he doesn’t seem to be afraid of his knee. His injury is notorious for taking a whole season to get back to normal, but Morrow seems to be bucking that trend.

Auld looks good in his backup starts and Turco seems…um…to be improving. He was making me nervous at first, but he seems to be getting better. Hopefully it’s a trend and not a fluke. I’ve got my eye on him, though.

The gist is that I’m surprised that I’m a little happy with the way things are going so far. As a card-carrying pessimist, though, I’m not making any predictions yet. We’ll see after another 10 or 11 games.

I just saw a cute story over on Andrew’s Dallas Stars Page about a Stars fan that bought a Maple Leafs fan on ebay.

Apparently, the Leafs fan has decided to jump ship and has sold his loyalty to the highest bidder (proceeds going to a cancer charity).

I think he’ll enjoy being a Dallas Stars fan. He can probably get Stars game tickets plus plane tickets for the price of tickets to a Leafs game. And there’s no waiting list. And best of all, no grammatical errors in our team’s name!

Welcome to Stars fandom, ex-Leafs fan!